Using our guidelines with AI

Introduction

We've created AI-optimized guidelines specifically formatted for AI assistants like Claude Code and GitHub Copilot to ensure they generate code that follows Spatie's Laravel & PHP standards.

Our AI-optimized guidelines cover:

  • Core Laravel principles - Follow documented Laravel conventions first
  • PHP standards - PSR compliance, type declarations, nullable syntax
  • Class structure - Typed properties, constructor promotion, traits
  • Control flow - Early returns, avoiding else statements, happy path patterns
  • Laravel conventions - Routes, controllers, configuration, artisan commands
  • Naming conventions - Complete reference for classes, methods, files, and URLs
  • Code quality reminders - Essential principles for maintainable code

Using Laravel Boost (Recommended)

The easiest way to use our guidelines in your Laravel projects is with Laravel Boost. Simply install our guideline package:

composer require spatie/boost-spatie-guidelines --dev
php artisan boost:install

Select the Spatie guidelines from the list, and you're done! AI assistants using Laravel Boost will automatically reference our guidelines when generating code.

View the package on GitHub →

You can view the raw AI-optimized guidelines file here.

Alternative: Global Integration using Claude Code

If you're not using Laravel Boost, you can add the guidelines to your global Claude Code configuration so they're available across all projects:

# Make sure the Claude configuration file exists
mkdir -p ~/.claude && touch ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md

# Download our guidelines
curl -o ~/.claude/laravel-php-guidelines.md https://spatie.be/laravel-php-ai-guidelines.md

# Tell Claude to read the guidelines file
echo -e '\n## Coding Standards\nWhen working with Laravel/PHP projects, first read the coding guidelines at @~/.claude/laravel-php-guidelines.md' >> ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md

Alternative: Project-Specific Integration using Claude Code

For individual Laravel projects not using Laravel Boost, you can download the guidelines to your project root:

# Make sure the Claude configuration file exists
touch CLAUDE.md

# Download our guidelines
curl -o laravel-php-guidelines.md https://spatie.be/laravel-php-ai-guidelines.md

# Tell Claude to read the guidelines file
echo -e '\n## Coding Standards\nWhen working on this Laravel/PHP project, first read the coding guidelines at @laravel-php-guidelines.md' >> CLAUDE.md

Optionally, you can create a Composer script to keep guidelines updated:

{
    "scripts": {
        "update-guidelines": "curl -o docs/laravel-php-guidelines.md https://spatie.be/laravel-php-ai-guidelines.md"
    }
}

AI docs for Spatie packages

The Context7 MCP project contains docs for various Spatie packages.

Emergencies